Looks can be culturally deceiving
THE headquarters of a United States multinational organisation was recruiting a new manager for the Asian region of a multicultural marketing team, based in Japan. The team members came from all over Asia. The organisation appointed a US-Japanese manager; this woman manager was born in the US to Japanese parents and looked to be the perfect fit for the job.
Within a couple of months, serious miscommunication arose between the manager and team members and productivity started to fall. The team members complained that the US manager was too direct in her approach, and that she was not taking into account the cultural differences and sensitivities within the team.
Over the next few months three of the eight team members resigned from the company and two members applied for other roles in different departments. Within six months, the US-Japanese manager returned home. Although the manager looked Japanese, she had American business values that in her Asian team were counterproductive.
Grouping people together into cultural regions can be a trap; appearances often deceive.
An Indian manager told me about an experience he had soon after arriving in Australia. In his first job, he was appointed manager of a fast-food outlet. One day, immediately after opening the doors for evening trade, a group of Chinese people walked in. One of his female waitresses whispered, annoyed, in the Indian manager's ear: "Oh no, that spoils a good evening; Asians are always so arrogant and demanding!"
The Indian manager was taken aback at this comment and, after regaining his composure, asked her: "Do you know where I am from?" She shrugged her shoulders, gesturing that she did not know. "I am from India and so I am 'Asian' as well". She looked at him in disbelief and uttered "Asian? But you don't look Asian!". This comment even surpassed her earlier misjudgment.
I once overheard a conversation between some women who were looking adoringly at a newborn baby boy. The infant had almost white hair and big blue eyes. After a while another woman joined the group and, seeing the baby, exclaimed: "Oh my, he looks so European!" It was an interesting comment that implied that all Europeans had fair hair and blue eyes.
Grouping people together because of preconceptions about appearance might prove to be a costly mistake in your business dealings. Sometimes it can cost you business; the US multinational suffered immensely both in expatriate costs and in losing valuable team members to the competition. Sometimes it can cost you the relationship: the Indian manager and the Australian waitress did not feel very comfortable with each other anymore. Or in the example about the baby, it can cost your credibility: this person might be regarded as not having much knowledge about Europe.
A couple of weeks ago, I got into a taxi in Canberra and after a bit of chitchat with the driver we acknowledged we both had an accent. His was a beautiful singing Irish, mine a more harsh Dutch. He was delighted with the discovery that I came from the Netherlands; he smiled and said: "That explains why when I saw you coming to the car I thought that you had a very continental walk." This left me highly amused: what on earth is a continental walk?
While the process of generalising and grouping people or characteristics might be helpful as a starting point, it can also be fraught with difficulties. There is much we need to learn about cultural differences before we can confidently generalise about 'culture' and avoid costly or embarrassing mistakes. |
